


an alley and a birthday party (past, present, and future)

by WattStalf



Series: Baccano Week 2016 [4]
Category: Baccano!
Genre: And all that jazz, Baccano Week 2016, F/M, Gratuitous Fist Fighting, Meet-Cute, Minor Character Death, Murder, all them warnings and then some, i guess thats it, idk - Freeform, like nameless nobodies, no smut which is such a surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-10 10:01:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7840414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> I am going to kill you, but not yet.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	an alley and a birthday party (past, present, and future)

**Author's Note:**

> Day Four: Future or Past  
> Wowee, this one was uh...it was a long one, I guess, at least longer than what I normally write for them. It's my attempt at a "meet-cute" for them, going with the theme of past there, as well as Lua's looking forward to the future. It's uh...I don't know, I put a lot into it but I don't really know what to think of it. It's just a lot of bullshit and headcanon and fun stuff, or at least fun for me.

_He watches her from across the room, hasn't been able to take his eyes off her for about ten minutes, but if she notices, she doesn't react. That's one of the things about her that drew him in in the first place, how goddamn_ still _she is. Ladd isn't sure if he's even seen her blink, whereas he can't remember a time in his life when he's been able to sit still for longer than a few seconds. That alone is enough to capture his attention._

_What drew him first, however, and what continues to hold his attention, is how absolutely beautiful she is. He doesn't think he's ever seen a girl this gorgeous in his entire life, but he doesn't allow himself to linger on the past long enough to draw any comparisons. She is almost ethereal, and definitely breathtaking, and he's overcome with a mixture of desires just looking at her, unsure of which he wants to act on most of all._

_What's more, he isn't even sure how he should approach her._

~X~

Lua loves that she lives every day in uncertainty, that there is nothing predictable about the man she is going to marry. Before he came along everything was so dreadfully boring, but now that she has him, she is never bored because she never knows just what each day has in store for her. He is spontaneous, he is exciting, he is the most fascinating man she has ever met and the most fascinating man she will _ever_ meet.

One day, he's promised to kill her, and yet he won't tell her _when_ or _how_ he plans to do it, never wanting to spoil the surprise. The only thing that is certain is that he wants it to be perfect, but she can't completely believe anything else he says on the subject. All she knows is that he _will_ kill her, but the rest is a mystery that gives her life the most exhilarating suspense.

There is nothing she enjoys more than that suspense.

~X~

_He learns that her name is Lua Klein, but he doesn't really learn much else. She isn't very good for conversation, but he keeps trying, even if he is mostly talking to himself at this point, and even if he's running out of things to talk about. It's been a long time for him, a very long time since he's put this kind of effort in for any woman, and a very long time since he's cared so much about not terrifying her upon their first meeting._

_She's a beautiful, classy woman, and something about her strikes him as different, and so he wants to try to this the right way, at least at first. Even if their conversation is one-sided, even if he's running out of things to talk about. And when she starts to look bored, it only makes him more determined; he's going to get some sort of reaction out of her if it kills her!_

_Though he really hopes it doesn't come to that so early on._

~X~

She has her theories and she has her questions, but she doesn't bring them up to him because she knows he will just chide her for being impatient and give her no direct answers. Always, he tells her that she has to be the last one left, that there are others who have to be dealt with before her so that it is perfect, but he's never entirely clear on what being the “last” really means or, if he is, he changes his meaning often, and there's no way to be sure if he really means that or not anyway. He wants it to be a surprise, so what's to say he won't kill her even if she isn't the last?

It's all about keeping her in suspense, because, of course, if she knows it's coming, if she wants it and is aware ahead of time, it takes the fun out of things. Already, he's going against what he normally does just knowing that she wants it as much as he does, but at the very least, he wants there to be surprise, he wants her to think that there's no way he'll do it just as he's ready to begin. So why does he always remind her it's coming, if he doesn't want her to be at ease?

She wonders if he's hesitating, if he has second thoughts, or even if reminding her is just another way to draw it out for the purpose of suspense. If he _does_ have second thoughts, or even if he just wants to wait for as long as he possibly can, Lua won't complain. She hopes that he will kill her someday like he's promised, and she wants it more than anything, but she also thinks she could learn to be content living any sort of life with him.

Just as long as he makes good on his other promise and makes her his wife.

~X~

_Ladd is persistent, though he has yet to get much of a reaction from the woman. She rises, softly saying that she has to go somewhere, and he quickly offers to escort her, and though she says there's no need, he insists, and she doesn't bother arguing any further. Walking side by side with her, he's sure that he's going to get somewhere now, with a bit more privacy. It's getting late and the streets are quiet, so he's sure she'll be more willing to speak._

_But she doesn't. In fact, she's even more icy than before, and Ladd can feel his annoyance growing. What is_ with _this woman? Who does she think she is, giving_ him _the cold shoulder like this, when he's been nothing but charming? He's been on his best behavior, for Christ's sake! She thinks she's so_ goddamn _special, too good for_ him _?! He could reach for the knife in his pocket and slit her throat before she even noticed; he could snap her neck even faster than that, and yet she has the nerve to treat him like he's boring!_

_It's hard for him to steady himself when those thoughts start taking hold. She's so beautiful and fragile, but so stuck up herself, so certain that he's just some ordinary guy not worth her time. There's no way that she knows what he's capable of, and she has no idea that he could take her life without any effort, without any qualms or hesitation. Oh, it's very, very hard not to do just that, but something holds him back._

_He's still overcome with the suspicion that there's something different about this Lua._

~X~

It isn't just knowing that her death is coming, but not knowing when or how, that makes Lua's life so interesting. She never knows _anything_ he's planning on doing, not even when he tells her, because he is unpredictable. Really, she never knew how important that was until he surprised her for the first time and showed her that he wasn't boring like everyone and everything else, but now she knows and she is glad that she will never have to settle again.

Most of the time, he tries to keep her safe, but he is confident enough in his ability to protect that he sometimes lets her come along to watch him work. Every moment spent with him is dangerous and thrilling, and he is breathtaking to watch, and she thinks that it must be impossible to grow tired of this. She _knows_ that she never will, because she has learned just how important unpredictability is.

So she delights to think about where each day is taking her, what each experience she shares with Ladd might mean for her future, what plans he might be making and at what point those plans might change. He likes to keep things interesting and changes his mind on a whim, and she could never follow his train of thought, but she loves to try, and she loves to imagine what each day may hold.

She cannot predict a thing, but, really, that's the best part.

~X~

“ _This is where I'm supposed to be,” she says, her voice barely audible. There aren't even any homes here, just a bunch of shops already closed up for the night, and he's certain that she's lying to him. She'd rather take her chances walking alone in the dark then walking with him, and once again, he thinks about all the things he could do to her. He could show her right here and now just how dangerous the night can truly be. Still, he holds back._

“ _You sure about that?” he asks. She nods and he snorts. “Whatever you say. It's been a pleasure, Miss Lua Klein.” There is a not a trace of sincerity to his words, and he turns and starts back the way he came without bothering to make sure she gets inside anywhere. After all, he's certain that she isn't going into any of these buildings anyway, so what does it matter?_

_He's only walked a few feet when some man bumps into him, and he snarls, “Watch it, pal.”_

“You _watch it,” the other man says. Sometimes, Ladd can ignore these types of people and get out of situations like these without making a scene, but after the day he's had, he's in the worst sort of mood, and the man is sneering at him like he's so goddamn tough, like he can say whatever he wants and nothing in the world can touch him._

_The poor bastard is practically begging for it._

~X~

“Tomorrow is your birthday,” says Ladd one night, his voice snapping her out of her thoughts. She isn't surprised that he remembered, and she realizes that maybe there are some things that she can predict about him after all, like the fact that he would never forget anything so important.

She nods, and he practically beams. “Well, you'll never guess the surprise I got planned for you!” When she feels herself brightening, he chuckles and shakes his head. “No, no, it's not that! I told you, you'll never be able to guess it, so you _know_ it can't be that!”

“I'm not getting any younger,” she replies, and he frowns, looking as though he feels a bit guilty.

“Aw, baby, don't think of it like that!” he says. “Birthdays are supposed to be happy, and anyway, I thought we were having a lot of fun! Are you really that bored, that you wanna cut the fun short now?”

“I was just teasing,” she says playfully, and kisses his cheek. Really, she is excited for her birthday, and she's never bored with him, and every day is so much better than the last so she never regrets the fact that her life continues to go on.

Every day just makes the inevitable that much more worthwhile.

~X~

_Ladd feels himself starting to grin, and then he's dragging the man into an alley by his collar. The man still hasn't figured out just what sort of person he's dealing with, and when he's standing up straight, he starts to barrel forward, an untrained fighter. Ladd has already slipped into his stance, fists level with his chin, and he stops the man short with a hard right cross._

_He follows it with a quick jab to really make sure the man is off-balance, and to get in close, and then he delivers a powerful hook that knocks the man onto his back. Leaning down, Ladd pulls him up by his collar once more, getting nose to nose with him as he laughs and says, “That wasn't even fun for me, you know? I didn't even break a sweat! Now I_ gotta _kill ya, or else the night is just a waste!”_

_Just as he caught himself fantasizing about with Lua, he pulls the knife from his pocket, cutting the man's throat in one swift motion. Blood splatters his face and his clothing, but this is something he's very used to by this point, and his smile doesn't falter as he lets the man's limp body fall to the ground. It was fun, not nearly as satisfying as most victims, but fun nonetheless, and he wonders what it would have felt like to do something like that to Lua._

_Imagining the life fading from that pretty little face thrills him, and he almost regrets not doing it when he had the chance. Killing someone as ethereal as her would be a real treat, but it is also something he would want to savor, and with the way the situation had been set up, he really wouldn't have had the chance to enjoy it. Perhaps it's better this way, he thinks, but then he looks up and he sees her._

_Standing at the end of the alley, smiling for the first time since he initially laid eyes on her, is Lua._

~X~

“You can't worry me like that!” he declares, shaking his head. “I mean, to think! If I were actually just boring you this whole time, what would be the point of any of this? If that were the case, I might as well just kill you right now!”

Her heart skips a beat at his words, even though it is hardly the first time he's said something like this. Even knowing that he doesn't mean it, she can't hide her excitement or stop herself from murmuring, “So what if I said I was bored?”

“Lua!” His mouth falls open in mock disbelief. “You can't say things like that, you have no idea what that sort of confusion does to me!”

Her laugh is so quiet that he always leans in to hear it, and tonight is no exception. His smile widens until she has to wonder if his face gets sore, or if he's used to it with years of practice that her subtle expressions do not have.

“Even if you were bored, you know I'd just try to fix that, right? You know I would never, ever let your death be anything less than perfect, right?” His voice drops low, his smile grows more menacing, and she feels the familiar tingle of uncertainty, of something that is almost like fear, as he brings his face just inches from hers. “You're not getting out of my promise that easy, dollface.”

Her smile, which she pushes to be just a little bit bigger than usual, tells him that she wouldn't have it any other way.

~X~

“ _If you liked that so much,” he says, fresh hope growing within him, “you should watch me work some time. I gotta fight guys way tougher than him all the time! More arrogant, too, and that makes them_ really _fun to kill! And- and-” Lua hasn't replied yet, but her eyes have more life in him then he's seen that day, and for the first time, he has her interest. Not to mention the fact that this is one of his favorite topics, and to be able to speak so freely with a woman as beautiful as her..._

“ _And that's just for jobs!” he continues. “You should_ really _see the kind of people I find on my own, that are just_ begging _for it, ya know? Really, that guy was nothing compared to what I normally do, so please, don't assume this is the best I've got!”_

_He leans down, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes, wanting to get a better look at her now that she's displaying some emotion. It's a bit too intimate for a woman he's only just met, but, once again, he's felt like there was something different about her all along, and now, he's finally starting to understand where that feeling must have come from. She gasps, and then she smiles at him, and he feels like his heart might beat right out of his chest because_ goddamn _this girl really is something special. They've only just met, and yet he's already thinking so far ahead. It's the first time in a very long time that he's thought this way about anyone._

“ _You think you could try doing something like that to me?”_

~X~

“Anyway,” he says, pulling back, “I just wanted you to know that I've got a lot planned, so make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight! It's going to be a very, _very_ big day!”

She wonders what exactly he has in store for her, what sort of special things he has planned that have him this excited and that he claims she could never guess. It's just another one of the ways he keeps her on her toes and keeps her uncertain, just as he does with her death, just as he does with everything, and there really isn't any way of knowing what he means, what he's saying, what he's thinking.

She knows that she will be up late that night, that she won't be able to sleep from excitement, and that she will not be able to stop herself from wondering if he was lying to her. What if he _is_ going to kill her for her birthday and give her a matching birth and death date on her gravestone? What if he made her think that he was going to just so that he could tell her he wasn't and really try to convince her of that so that it would be a surprise when he did? She is over thinking things, but just can't help herself. Maybe tomorrow will really be the day.

But, no, they aren't even married yet- unless a wedding is part of the surprise as well.

~X~

_It only takes him a second to figure out what she's asking of him, but even then, he doesn't know what he's supposed to think about that request. Is that what had her so excited? But there still seemed to be so much more to her reaction, and he has a hard time believing that she's_ just _got a death wish, that she's only interested in him because of what he can do for her._

“ _Is that what this is all about?” he asks._

_She shakes her head, then nods, then pauses. “It isn't,” she finally says, “but it's a part of it.”_

_He remembers the thoughts he had about her earlier, when he had been annoyed with her, and the images he had conjured of potential deaths for her, and he can't remember feeling so conflicted. “You don't have to try to explain it,” he says at last. “I got stuff I can't explain either, but if it isn't just that, what else is there?”_

“ _You're fascinating,” she says, as if that explains it all, and if that's all she needs to explain it, then he thinks he understands perfectly. Perhaps he already knows her quite well, now that they're finally speaking a language they both understand._

“ _Glad I finally got your attention,” he replies, and it's true, and if he could have her look like that for the rest of her life, he would be a very happy man. The rest of_ her _life, the time remaining before she dies at his hand...he can't stop thinking about it now that she's brought it up, and he wants it._

_He wants to kill her so very badly, and he can't get those images out of his mind._

~X~

Ladd gets her a lot of expensive gifts- perfume, shoes, jewelry, dresses, including a particular outfit to wear to her party that night. The party is a surprise as well, and he keeps her entertained throughout the day with dancing and cake and all the things one would expect from a party, but just between the two of them. This is probably to make her think that that is the only party she is getting, but when he tells her to change into her new dress and to not come back down until he says so, she has her suspicions.

She doesn't know most of the guests, but that doesn't really bother her. Ladd has a lot of friends that she doesn't know very well, and he brings in different sorts of people all the time, whereas she prefers to spend her time almost exclusively with him. It's the thought that counts, and it's so very thoughtful for him to throw such a lovely party for her, even if she has no friends of her own to invite.

And then he begins attacking the guests, just for her, and though some manage to escape, those are very few in number, and then it is just the two of them again. He asks her for a dance, and she complies, not minding that the train of her new dress is getting stained from the blood on the floor. It's the most exciting birthday she's ever had, and the night is still young, there's still the anticipation that today might be the day (though, really, she feels that most every day), that there might be more festivities to come.

For the moment, however, she just enjoys dancing with him and doesn't worry herself with the future.

~X~

_A willing, fearless victim like her, one who would truly enjoy it, is not something he ever counted on. There are those who accept death and those who long for it, but she isn't anything like them, despite similar wishes, so even though he_ knows _that killing her goes against the rules of his game, he wants it. It would, he thinks, be the most fun he could ever have, and he doesn't want to move too quickly, but he's certain that he's falling in love._

_That presents an entirely different problem, however. He is falling for her and he wants to understand more about her, to learn all there is to learn and to be able to read her even when she is silent, to know what she is thinking at all times. Ladd wants to spend a very long time with her, he wants to be_ with _her, and so, he cannot kill her because that would be wasting time that could be spent knowing her in ways that nobody else ever could._

_But even_ that _does not resolve things and only serves to complicate them further. He has to be the only one to truly know her, and he has to be the only special person in her life, and because he is possessive, because he_ will not _lose someone like her to anyone, it really only makes sense that he_ has _to kill her. What kind of man would he be if he didn't?_

_With all of these conflicting thoughts, it takes him a surprisingly short amount of time to reach a conclusion, the best way to have it all. Lua is waiting patiently for his answer, and he places a finger under her chin, tipping her face up so that he can look down into her eyes. She looks absolutely elated._

“ _I am going to kill you,” he says, “but not yet. Not while there are others out there who need it too, and not until you're the happiest, liveliest person in the whole world! Then, and only then, will you be ready to die, and until that day comes, you're gonna stick by my side, got it? I'm not letting anyone else near you to try to do my job for me.”_

_Lua nods, her eyes shining, her small smile growing, and she speaks to him, soft and breathy, “Yes, Ladd.” There really is no denying it; he's falling madly and desperately in love with her._

_Within a week, he proposes._

~X~

In the end, her death is not one of her birthday presents, but he does give her one final gift before the night is over. “I know I got you lots of clothes already, angel, but this is different,” he says, as he presents the most gorgeous gown sh e's ever seen to her. “You can't wear this one just yet, because this is the dress you're going to be buried in.”

She hangs the dress in the front of her closet so that every day she can see it and remind herself that, through all the unpredictability and uncertainty of her daily life, she will always have Ladd's promise to count on.

 


End file.
